


Hyakki Yagyo

by velvet_sometimes



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: A main Character dies early but its okay they come back, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Bride of the Water God adaptation, Courtship, Drabble Collection, Dragons, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gods, Grief/Mourning, Grown Up Characters, Hurt/Comfort, Hyakki Yagyo, I swear to god shes not actually dead, Magic, Mild crossover with Studio Ghibli, Sharks, Short Chapters, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Spirit World, Supernatural Elements, Unrequited Love, i mean it i'm like 40 chapters in and they haven't even thought of kissing, magic comes back to the world, mostly because hes a dragon still, sort of arranged marriage, traveling between worlds, very major super slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 01:52:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6591844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvet_sometimes/pseuds/velvet_sometimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When something old awakens into a world of everything new, there are consequences for the actions of the past. And when spirits long since forgotten start to answer the call of magic, and Dragons seek retribution for the wounds of the land, Chihiro’s world changes in impossible ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> So what I have done of this has been posted on FFn for a while now and I figured I might as well upload it all over here too since it's where I've been spending most of my time. 
> 
> Anyway I hope you all enjoy my second Spirited Away story.

**1\. A greeting full of promises, the dark goodbye-hello (beginnings) ******

The full moon hung heavy in the sky the night that everything changed, looking almost as if it could come tumbling down at any moment to crash into the bay. It’s light thick and almost tangible in the still summer air. And Chihiro felt as if she were weaving through clouds as she brought all her wares in from the darkness; the entire town slowly closing down for the night as revelers and festival goers faded away in the shadows of tail lights that streaked across the winding roads in trails of bright, shining red that glimmered like rubies in the dark as they speed off to who knows where.  
  
She’d loved nights like these ever since she was a young girl; the magic of them. Not the festivals themselves, but the after. The lanterns hanging high above the streets and distant notes of laughter; nameless voices that clung to the air belaying lives she’d never know, and the remnants of their inhabitance that littered the place. A forgotten hair band on the sidewalk, or a wrapper from a child's favorite piece of candy.  
  
She never wanted the sun to rise; she wanted to live perpetually in that midnight hour for the rest of her life. It was so full of promise; goodbyes in the dark that made her sigh in wistfulness as she watched them from her stand, and even greater -the hellos. The first meeting she was so privileged to witness occur. The beginnings.  
  
Little did she know, as she flipped the sign on her window to ‘closed’, that this was the beginning of her own goodbye. And her own hello.


	2. Standing

**2\. Like falling snow, like roaring wind (standing) **  
****  
Chihiro wasn’t sure why she turned back around, maybe it was the odd sort of light headed pop of displaced air, or just a whim of the night, but she did.  
  
And what she saw had her jumping back from the door she had left propped open, scrambling backward until she was pressed into the leg of one of her display stands; shaking fingers frantically trying to dig her cellphone from her pocket without losing eye contact with what stood before her.  
  
She hit her speed dial number for her parents, scarcely breathing as the line innocently rang, belaying her panic. And when the line finally crackled to life, the scratchy voice of her father greeting her with a: “Hey Sweetheart! How’d it go tonight?”, Chihiro could barely swallow her panic enough to speak, the only sound coming from her throat hysterical, terrified laughter.  
  
And after a moment of her father asking what was wrong, she was finally able to form words.  
  
“Dad, I don’t know what you’re doing right now, But there’s a Dragon standing in my doorway.” 


	3. Hallucinating

**3\. Beg silently and the wrong gods will hear you (hallucinating) ******

There was a pause from the other end of the line, the only sound in the stillness of the night the static crackle of her father’s breathing, and the movement of the great beast that stood before her. “Chihiro are you drunk?”  
  
She looked at the creature with unblinking eyes, taking it in as it’s mass nearly filled the entirety of her doorway, and intelligent green eyes stared back. Pure, pearly white scales flowed across his body like water, and a mane the color of sea foam trailed down his spine. Him -as he was most definitely a male; proud and tall and winding-, stood before her, not touching the step of her doorway, but close enough that he could have reached across that threshold with a clawed foot and touched her had he wanted to.  
  
No, Chihiro was not drunk. “I seriously doubt I’m hallucinating dad,” she told him, an edge of hysteria coloring her words. “I’m pretty sure this is an honest to god Dragon staring at me.”  
  
There was a heartfelt sigh from the crackling phone at her ear. “It’s probably some kids in an old costume from New Years, I’m sure-,”  
  
“No dad, _I’m _sure this guy is _real _.” She cut off his denial with her reply, voice raising in octive until it was shrill with terror.____  
  
The creature cocked his head to the side, staring at her in the same curiosity as she had bestowed upon him, before merely turning, and making his way down the darkening stretch of mainstreet.  
  
“He’s leaving.” She told her dad as she scrambled to her feet so that she could look out the doorway want watch his retreating form. “He’s just walking down the street like he owns the place.”  
  
And in the distance, she could hear exclamations of fright and screams filling the night from bystanders that noticed his trek.  
  
And all at once, Mainstreet was as bright as daylight.


	4. Threatening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I just posted the first 4 drabble-length chapters to try and give everyone a bit more than just 200 words to base an opinion off of, though not every chapter in this story is so short. I wanted to inform everyone, though, that this story is so far 43 chapters long on FFn, and I'll be transferring them over a few chapters at a time every day. 
> 
> This story is NOT completed as of yet -and will probably span upwards into 100+ chapters. and I'm sorry, but I'm not the most reliable when it comes to updating at a specific time or day, mostly because I'm both working full time, and am a college student full time as well. But rest assured, when it comes to my backlog of finished chapters, I should be posting at least once a day with them.

**4\. Choose to go or stay. choose all your fate. choose hope, or abandon the future here. (threatening)**

Chaos surrounded the great beast; the small town quickly coming back to life to face this strangeness that was all at once terrifyingly new and heartbreakingly ancient. He was an old world myth -a legend from an age of superstition that had died out long before her time. A story they told to children around campfires. Never meant to be real.  
  
Yet he slowly made his way through the streets of their sea side town with all the grace of a shark patrolling the depths of its territory -with all the realness of any of those who watched from windows with curtains drawn and behind doors.  
  
His claws clicked against the cobblestones, and his furred mane swayed in a breeze that was not there. His breath came in loud puffs of icy air, coating the flowers that grew in pots along the sides of road with frost and dew that melted away moments later. He was make believe, from story books and whispers. And he was gloriously real.  
  
He paused for a moment to look around the town in interest, long neck swaying in his movement, and for a split second, his eyes connected with hers once more, -her phone clasped tightly to her chest with shaking fingers and his tail lazily swinging in soft arches that spanned the entire street with it’s movement- before he turned back to face the people who were brave enough to leave the protection of their shops and homes.  
  
The exchange did not go unnoticed.  
  
Nor did the rumbling that escaped his chest, almost a growl, but lower, resonating through her. The sound of it made her legs shake, threatening to give out from underneath her, but his voice sent many to their knees.  
  
“You have dared to awaken me; and I find my domain defiled -what do you offer in return for your lives?”


	5. Knowing

**5\. The First step is madness, the second is woe (knowing) ******

The streets were silent in the wake of his words, none sure what to make of this angry lost god. And as the minutes ticked past, he seemed to grow in agitation; his tail flicking in annoyance, threatening to overturn a flower pot that was seated too close to him. 

“Where is the bravery of mortals now?” And his voice was rolling and rumbling like distant thunder, causing a shiver of dark anticipation to roll up her spine in turn. 

And it was that shiver that made her legs start to move of their own accord, bringing her closer to the creature whose eyes were now trained on her with a deadly intensity. 

“Great spirit,” her voice shook so badly that she had to pause to swallow down the lump of fear that was lodged in her throat. “What have we done to anger you?”

“The mortal filth that taints my waters.” He replied with a snap of fangs, his words a snarl. “How dare you disrespect the land I gifted you with before my slumber.”

Chihiro fought the urge to take a step back, holding her ground before the angry spirit. “I’m sorry.” she told him, knowing the words were weak in the face of his wrath. “I can’t change what’s happened, but I can help fix it, if you’d let me.”


	6. Barking

**6\. hold your breath, squeeze your fingers tight (Barking) ******

The myth that was not a myth came toward her, his long body twining around her and taking up the entirety of the street with it’s movement; forcing the townspeople back toward the shelter of the buildings, and cutting her off from any sense of safety she might have had. 

Chihiro fought the instinctive urge to flee when she felt his icy breath ghost over her flesh, blowing her hair back from her shoulders with it’s force. Her eyes were closed against the image before her, fingers clenched tightly to keep the panic at bay as she took a deep breath, holding it for a long moment to settle her nerves.

And when she opened her eyes, her only view was that of white fur and pearly scales and a row of huge, shining fangs. 

“Brave little mortal -you’re shaking; but such sweet smelling courage. Come now and tell me: how will a pack squealing boar,” he paused for a moment, mighty head cocking slightly, as if to get a better look at her, “And small barking dog with no teeth appease the wrath of a God?”


	7. Unblinking

**7\. When walking through the dark, remember that before is where the danger lurks, not behind. (unblinking) ******

She paused in turn, staring up at the great beast before her, who met her gaze with shimmering, unblinking green. There was emotion there, there was intelligence, though what she did see she could not name. And that is what terrified her all the more.

“I,” she began, before backtracking again at the feeling of eyes watching her from the windows. “ _We _, can make this right.”__

“And what shall you do?” The creature pressed, voice an amused purr. As if he took pleasure in her hesitance. In her fear. 

“We’ll dredge the river; clean out the trash. We’ll hold a festival in your honor -like in the old days. With offerings to you in celebration of your return to the land.” Her own voice surprised her with it’s strength, even with the waver in her notes. 

And the Dragon did not laugh at her for it. Instead he looked pleased, drawing back as if now satisfied with what he found, and for the first time since the beginning of their encounter, she felt as if she could breathe. “I shall hold you to your word, little mortal. See that it is done, and my blessings shall be unmatched. Fail me, and my wrath will be terror.”

He turned then, stepping away so that he could take flight.

And he was magnificent; looping through the air as if he was made of nothing but the wind itself, before disappearing into the light of the moon.


	8. Swaying

**8\. Rumor to bargain, bargain to lie -here is the path that fear walks (swaying) ******

Days passed since the arrival of the dragon, -whispers of a shared hallucination that were ruthlessly dashed by his next appearance, and his next. The myth that was not a myth liked to perch himself atop the shine that overlooked the main street -his coils wrapping around the peak of it to hang lazily over the eaves, tail swaying in the wind and watching the townsfolk with calculated interest. 

Chihiro wondered how this world looked to him now, what he saw in the fishing nets and the exhaust of cars. She knew his ever watchful gaze frightened the people of her town -stole the breath from their lungs whenever his eyes would settle upon them with his silent judgement. Weighing and measuring each before moving on again. 

It was not uncommon for her to feel his eyes watching her anytime she moved near the windows of her shop; his stare flickering to her at random points throughout the day; making her fingers fumble in their transactions whenever she felt it, or a box to fall from her hands. 

Just at sunset he would fly over the town, and with him he took the light -the last flashes reflecting from his scales before disappearing beyond the horizon. 

He would always circle her store in the air before he departed for the shine once more, almost as if he couldn’t resist the urge to unsettle her, though he never once touched what belonged to her. Coming close, testing, teasing. But she paid his antics no mind, merely clapping her hands together and bowing in short prayer to the guardian of the land before going about her business once more. 

His pointed interest in the young shopkeeper was not missed; everyone knew. Everyone feared. And it was that knowing that spread through the town like wildfire. It was that fear that sealed her fate.


End file.
